BODY FAT

HEALTH RISKS

Information: body fat issues. It is unhealthy if you have too little or too much body fat because obesity can lead to health risks.

Too Little Body Fat

To little body fat can affect normal healthy functioning in both men and women. It can lead to reproductive problems in women like interruption in the menstrual cycle.

Too Much Body Fat

Too much body fat increases the risk of many diseases, including type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease, and certain cancers. Abdominal fat increases the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes.

A waist circumference of 40 inches or more in men and 35 inches or more in woman is associated with significantly increased disease risk.

Clinical studies have found a relationship between excess body fat and the incidence of cancer. By itself, body fat is a storage place for carcinogens (cancer-causing chemicals) in both men and women.

In women, excess body fat has been linked to a higher rate of breast and uterine cancer and in men, it is linked to colon and prostate cancer. There is a delicate balance between blood sugar, body fat, and the hormone insulin.

Excess blood sugar is stored in the liver and other vital organs. But when the organs are "full," the excess blood sugar is converted to fat. As fat cells themselves become full, they tend to take in less blood sugar.

In some obese people, the pancreas produces more and more insulin, which the body can't use, to regulate blood sugar levels, and the whole system becomes overwhelmed. This poor regulation of blood sugar and insulin results in diabetes, which can lead to heart disease, kidney failure, blindness, amputation, and death.

Excess body fat is also linked to gall bladder disease, gastro-intestinal disease, sexual dysfunction, osteoarthritis, and stroke. Obese people also tend to have high cholesterol levels, making them more prone to arteriosclerosis, a narrowing of the arteries by deposits of plaque.

This becomes life-threatening when blood vessels become so narrow or blocked that vital organs like the brain, heart or kidneys are deprived of blood. Additionally, the narrowing of the blood vessels forces the heart to pump harder, and blood pressure rises. High blood pressure itself poses several health risks, including heart attack, kidney failure, and stroke.

About 25 percent of all heart and blood vessel problems are associated with obesity. It can also lead to arthritis in hips or knees. Diseases associated with an excess of body fat worsen as the amount of body fat increases.

Reducing Body Fat Reduces Disease Risk

By reducing body fat percentage, you can reduce the risk of disease. Studies show that an active lifestyle and its help in reducing body fat are associated with a reduced risk for some types of cancers: prostate for men, breast and uterine cancers for women.

In addition, regular physical activity and a low-fat diet are successful in treating non-insulin dependent diabetes (NIDDM); for some patients, it reduces or eliminates the need for insulin substitutes. In general, regularly active adults have a lower risk of developing NIDDM.

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